The upcoming plant of the automotive filter major Elofic Industries is slated to be operational by end of 2016. The plant coming up near Ahmedabad in Gujarat at an investment of about Rs 80 crore will add another 60 million units to the company’s existing filter manufacturing capacity. Currently the company has 5 plants – three plants in Faridabad in Haryana and one each in Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh and Hosur in Tamil Nadu where it is headquartered.
M B Sahni, Managing Director and K D Sahni, Joint Managing Director, Elofic Industries
Speaking to Auto Components India, the Joint Managing Director, Elofic Industries, K D Sahni, said, the state of the art machinery and technology at the new plant will cater to both export and domestic demand. “We chose Gujarat because the overall industrial climate is good. Besides, it is closer to many customers and ports. We are looking at 60 million units production capacity to begin with,” he said. The company hopes to enhance the capacity based on the demand.
The Faridabad headquartered company expects the new plant to aid in doubling its revenue. “The plan is that we would be touching Rs 500 crore by year 2016-17 from the present Rs 220 crore.
The company that forayed in to manufacturing lubricants about four years ago has also undertaken various steps to stay clear of the slowdown by streamlining its production cycle. It has been focusing on investing prudently in avenues where the company is not present. “We have invested a lot in backward integration by manufacturing components in-house. Today, we have everything in-house right from making sheet-metal parts to plastic parts, filter paper, deep drawing of components and so on. It gives us better control and level of automation,” said Sahni.
Elofic at present has 35 % of its revenue coming from exports and rest from domestic market. However, the company is looking to spread its wings wider outside India. It will explore options to expand its operations in Europe. “Overall, exports this year have been good because of the recovery in US market and thanks to the exchange rate.” Elofic supplies to Kohler Engines, Generac, Kawasaki and Lombardini SRL. In addition, the company supplies to several customers who export their products to the US, Sahni said. In domestic market, Elofic counts most OEMs as its client.
There also has been a diversification drive happening at Elofic for the last five years. The company that began as filter manufacturer in India for cars in the year 1951, forayed into lubricants as well. The company is planning to earmark certain amount for any diversification opportunity but at the moment, however, it will focus more on the new type of filters.
Explaining the reason behind entering the lubricants market, Saini said, “We wanted to give a complete protection package to the customers. After giving quality filters we are now offering quality lubricating oil. The market is definitely huge and we will be more than happy even if we are able to get 1% share. The response has been good so far. We outsourced blending of oils till we set up our plant at Faridabad last year.”
Today, the company is also present in filters for two-wheelers and construction equipment. “We have all already entered the construction equipment segment now. We have set up our own component manufacturing for construction equipment filters which many others are not doing. That is our USP,” he averred.
The filter and lubricant maker has decided to put its eggs in different baskets not just when it comes to products but also markets. The company has been maintaining a fine balance in sales between OEMs, aftermarket and exports. If one is down, the other segments will balance the fall. This made the company grow at about 20% every year in spite of all the ups and downs in the market.
Talking about its presence in twowheeler segment, Sahni said that the company has already bagged orders from Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, DSK Hyosung and Harley Davidson. Currently it is developing the products. ACI
Story & Photography : J Srikant
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